Medical devices, such as implantable therapy delivery devices, may be used in different therapeutic applications, such as chronic delivery of therapy to patients suffering from a variety of conditions, such as pain (e.g., chronic pain, post-operative pain or peripheral and localized pain), tremor, movement disorders (e.g., Parkinson's disease), diabetes, epilepsy, neuralgia, chronic migraines, urinary or fecal incontinence, sexual dysfunction, obesity, gastroparesis, mood disorders, or other disorders. Pumps or other fluid delivery devices may be used for chronic delivery of therapeutic agents, such as drugs, to address some of the above conditions or disorders. Typically, such devices provide therapy continuously or periodically according to parameters specified by a therapy program. A therapy program may comprise respective values, specified by a clinician, for each of a plurality of parameters.
One type of implantable fluid delivery device is a drug infusion device that can deliver a fluid medication to a patient at a selected site in the patient's body. A drug infusion device may be implanted at a location in the body of a patient and deliver a fluid medication through a catheter to a selected delivery site in the body. Drug infusion devices, such as implantable drug pumps, include fluid reservoirs that may be self-sealing and may be accessible through ports. A drug infusion device may be configured to deliver a therapeutic agent from the fluid reservoir to a patient according to a therapy program, which may, for example, specify a rate of delivery by the implantable device of a fluid delivered to the patient.
Programmable implantable medical devices (IMDs) are typically programmed using an external programming device, sometimes known as a controller or programmer, which can communicate with the IMD through well-known techniques, such as telemetry, to download a therapy program. An external controller or programmer can be used by a medical professional, for example, to change the therapeutic regimen by increasing or decreasing the amount of fluid medication delivered, or by increasing or decreasing the intensity or timing or characteristic of an electrical stimulation signal. Typically, a medical professional interfaces with the external controller or programmer to set various parameters associated with the IMD and then transmits, or downloads, those parameters, e.g., a therapy program, to the IMD. The external controller or programmer may also record other information important to the delivery of the therapy. Some information may be stored in the IMD and/or the external controller or programmer. Such information may include, for example, patient information or IMD information. IMD information may include, as examples, the model of the IMD, volume of fluid the IMD is capable of containing, implant location, length of catheter or lead, and other information specific to different devices.